Tag: Tangalle Bay Hotel

Post-independence Sri Lanka’s architectural landscape was shaped by nationalist and tropical regionalism, and Architect Valentine Gunasekara’ modernist works were marginalized as anti-thesis for the former. Rejecting traditional forms, he embraced spatial fluidity, often experimenting with materials like glass and reinforced concrete, advocating for redefined outward reaching designs. His work can be understood as an attempt in exploring new spatial possibilities through modern materials, addressing the needs of Sri Lanka’s emerging middle class with modernist forms. He disliked the perpetuation of what was interpreted as elite forms and aesthetics in traditional manors and colonial bungalows.